Never Again
by Nat DC
Summary: After a celebratory party at Camp Half-Blood, Percy is faced with a massive headache and a feeling of unease. Worst of all, he can't remember anything that happened the night before. Will the truth be more than what he can take?


**Hello guys and gals! Here is another Percabeth headcanon AU thingamajig. Don't worry it's not as sad as the previous one (or maybe it is mwahahhaha)**

 **Just a warning that there is some kissing as well as the presence of alcohol in this fic soooo**

 **Also some background: Annabeth lives in an apartment in NYC that is right next door to Percy's. They are both 21. This fic is in Percy's POV.**

 **Lets goooooo**

* * *

It was the last day of the summer for everyone at Camp Half-Blood. This was the day where campers would either leave the comforts of Camp and make it out on their own or with their family in the mortal world, or stay at Camp, either because they were too powerful of a demigod and would immediately attract monsters or because they had no family or friends to go back to.

I, along with about 75% of the campers, would be leaving Camp for the summer. Annabeth and I would be going to the same college in New Rome, where we would study and live together. It had basically been our dream since the day the Romans and the Greeks were reunited, and it was finally going to be coming true.

Now you might be thinking _Wow, Percy! You must be so excited and happy!_

The truth is, I was miserable.

And not because I was dreading the moment to leave the comforts of Camp or because I was nervous for the future (though, those thoughts were still lingering in the back of my mind).

It was because of the massive headache and the uneasy feeling I had when I woke up.

* * *

I slept with no dreams, which was the first odd thing about that morning.

Second odd thing: My head was pounding, as if my brain was hammering against my skull. My temples ached, and it hurt to stare at the ceiling of my cabin (or at anything, for that matter) for too long.

Third odd thing: I was still dressed in my camp clothes.

A normal person would just think _Oh I guess I forgot to change last night_

Then I discovered the fourth odd thing: I didn't remember going to bed last night.

In fact, I couldn't remember anything after 8 PM the night before.

"What...", I murmured, my head having a hard time stringing together a complete thought. My throat was parched, like I had a drink of fire from Phlegethon before bed (and trust me, that stuff is _nasty_ )

Wait. _Drink._ Something about a drink. The back of my head throbbed, as if my brain was trying to tell me I was missing something (which I definitely was).

I tried to retrieve the memory of a drink last night but the thought was already fading away. I had a sense of deja vu. The only other time I had felt this way was when Hera (Juno, whatever) had taken my memory from me a few years ago, as an involuntary exchange program between me and Jason Grace.

I had a momentary feeling of panic, thinking maybe that the same thing was happening now, when I realized that, if that was the case, I wouldn't be able to remember Hera taking my memories, or Jason, or even Annabeth.

Well, maybe not Annabeth. After all, her name was the only thing I _could_ remember when my memory was erased.

There was that feeling of emptiness again. _Annabeth._ Something happened last night with Annabeth. Something I should remember. I tried even harder to grasp the memory this time but it was like someone was dangling it just out of my reach.

I put my head in my hands. The throbbing was even worse now, so much so, it was like a tremor was passing through my entire body every time my head _thumped;_ down my spinal cord, up my arms, all the way to my fingertips. For some reason, the pain was slightly more focused on my right cheek...

I realized it was probably half past breakfast, and I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet.

I stumbled out of bed. My clothes were all wrinkled from sleeping in them all night, so I changed. I decided I would pack and clean up my cabin after breakfast and then meet Annabeth around noon to make our way into the city. Maybe she could explain what had happened last night.

I walked out of my cabin and had to squint until my eyes adjusted to the mid-morning light. I realized it was probably around 10 AM which meant I had overslept _big time._ Good thing it was the last day of camp for most of us, or I would've been late for sword fighting class.

I made my way to the dining pavilion and plopped down with my breakfast (a bagel, an omelette and some orange juice) at the Poseidon table. After looking at my food, I realized how hungry I was. I promptly wolfed down my bagel and omelette and got another of both.

I was so caught up with my breakfast that I didn't notice that Jason Grace had sat across from me until he cleared his throat.

"What?", I said through a mouthful of omelette, making it come out more like "Mphhh?"

"We need to talk about last night", he said with a stern glare. Even with his goofy-looking glasses on, the deadly serious look in Jason's eyes still seemed to unnerve me.

 _Last night._..

I swallowed my omelette, "Yeah what _did_ happen last night?"

Jason looked like he had been slapped, "Wait you-you don't remember?"

"No...", I said, getting the feeling that I _should've_ remembered.

Jason took a deep breath, lowered his voice and leaned towards me like he was spilling some juicy gossip, "You don't remember the party Mr. D set up for the camp counselors? You, Annabeth, Piper and I went. We stayed for a while, drank, laughed, had fun and all of a sudden you and Annabeth started fighting and-"

"Wait, fighting? What-"

It all hit me so hard that I fell back in my chair.

 _Drank. Annabeth. Fight._

The earth seemed to be rotating underneath my body. The sky flipped upside down. I felt like I was traveling back in time, back to the party last night.

* * *

Chiron had been out on some scouting mission with his brothers, the Party Ponies, for a few days. Mr. D had been put in charge for the week he would be gone.

After breakfast, the morning before, Mr. D had told me, as well as a bunch of other campers my age, to hang back for a few minutes for a "special announcement".

Annabeth, Piper and Jason (who was here on an "exchange meeting" which was code for "hanging-out-with-Piper-time") were among the demigods who were held back with me. After the pavilion was cleared except for us, Mr. D made his way to the stage overlooking the dining tables.

"You are all probably wondering why I have called you here", he said dramatically.

I heard the Stoll brothers chuckle behind me, and I gave Annabeth a look like _Can you believe this guy?_ She smiled and nudged for me to listen.

"Well, for the first time in decades, I am almost-entirely pleased to announce that, tonight, to celebrate the end of this summer season, all of you will be invited to a party, in which _drinks_ will be served ", he paused, waiting for a reaction.

The only reaction he got, however, were many confused looks and a belch from Connor Stoll.

"Um sir?", Jason said, breaking the silence, "you make this party seem like its a big deal. There's always a special party at the end of the season. What makes this year different?"

Mr. D shot Jason an aggravated, exasperated look, as if he had expected applause and a metal for his "special announcement".

"In case you did not hear me, _Jason Grace_ , I said that _drinks_ will be served.", he said, his voice steely.

Everyone shuffled nervously as if suddenly understanding what Mr. D meant.

I didn't get it until Jason spoke up again, "You mean drinks? Like wine and stuff?", he said incredulously.

"Yes, I mean 'wine and stuff'. Everyone that is listening is of drinking age. You are all invited to this gathering. Now, I have paperwork to fill out so please, move along!", Mr. D said, suddenly tired of our presence. He promptly walked off stage, and headed to the Big House.

Everyone didn't seem to understand that they were dismissed until we heard the _bang!_ of the Big House door shutting behind Mr. D.

Suddenly, everyone perked up, and started sharing their excitement with their friends.

"Can you believe this!? "

"Drinks at camp!

"Unheard of! Chiron would never..."

Yet, you could just tell from everyone's voices that, even though everyone was shocked by the announcement and unsettled by the fact that there would be alcohol at the party, they were still gonna go. The Stoll brothers were especially obvious about their choice, as they started talking about their plans for the party, what they'll wear, what gizmos they'll bring to "get the party started" (I didn't like the sound of that), etc.

Suddenly, I realized that I was among the demigods who were invited, since I was almost 22.

"Wanna go, Pipes?", Jason said with an un-Jason-like grin.

Piper glanced quickly at Annabeth and seemed to have a 2 second telepathic conversation with her (seriously how do girls do that!?)

"Sure! Annabeth, Percy?"

I held up my hand to give us a moment and led Annabeth to the end of one of the dining tables.

"So, what do you think?"

Annabeth shrugged, "It's your choice, Seaweed Brain. Honestly, I don't know why everyone's so hung up on the fact that we can drink. Like so what? Most of us have been of drinking age for a couple of years now."

She was right, of course. "Okay. We could go. The end-of-the-season parties are always pretty fun. And you're right. I was never into the whole drinking thing so it won't be much of a difference. Let's do it", I said with a grin.

She smiled back and we told Piper and Jason we'd meet them at the party around 7 or so.

The day went by as normal. The people who were at Mr. D's "special announcement" seemed to be more anxious, for some reason. The other campers didn't seem to notice. I spent the day teaching sword fighting and helping the younger campers with the climbing wall, making sure they didn't get burned to death.

Yup, just a normal day at Camp Half-Blood.

Soon, the Sun started to set. I didn't bother changing my clothes, but I soon regretted it when Annabeth walked over to me with a below-the-knee white dress with a gold lace trimming around the collar, with white dress shoes and a flower in her long, blonde hair.

I didn't realize I was staring until she snapped her fingers in front of my face and led me to the dining pavilion.

Most of the other campers who were going to bed either didn't care about what the older campers were doing, dressed up for some event, or they were too tired. Either way, I couldn't blame them.

We met Piper and Jason at the Aphrodite dining table. Piper was wearing a simple plum-colored blouse with jeans, while Jason sported a flannel shirt and dress pants and shoes (making me _really_ wish I had given my wardrobe a second thought).

"Hey guys!", Jason said holding up a glass (was that wine?)

Piper also had a glass of what looked like white wine and was smiling at us as we made our way to the table. I could hear satyrs playing music on their flutes, people were talking and enjoying myself. The atmosphere was happy, carefree.

Annabeth and I looked at each other and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

 _Let's dance._

I remember grabbing her waist as she grabbed my shoulders and we led each other in a slow dance. Soon other demigods joined us and the music sped up. I realized a lot of people were staring at Annabeth and I (probably because of my casual-wear), but for the most part, I didn't care. All I cared about was Annabeth. The gracefulness of her poise, how she somehow instinctively knew which way I was gonna turn. Soon we got closer together and I caught a whiff of her hair. It smelled like a combination of lemon and jasmine. Her blonde hair glowed in the dark and her stormy gray eyes seemed to be dancing along with the music.

Basically, I had fun dancing.

After the climax of the song, Annabeth and I sat down next to Jason and Piper who were also sore from dancing. Piper laughed at something Jason said and took a sip of her wine. I was sweaty, my breathing was heavy and I was in _desperate_ need of a drink.

"Go on, the wine's pretty good, actually", Jason told me, pointing at the wine chest that conveniently sat at the foot of the table.

I shrugged and poured some for myself. Before I took a sip I asked Annabeth if she wanted some.

It took her a second to realize what I was asking her. She sported an expression (her _I-am-in-deep-thought_ expression, as I liked to call it) and, after a second, she shrugged and said "Why not?"

I poured her some red wine, we toasted to the gods and drank. The red wine _was_ pretty good. And I found myself pouring another glass for Annabeth and I only five minutes later.

The rest of the night seemed surreal; as if I was watching the events play out like a movie in my mind.

I remember us getting up to dance again, but we didn't stay up for long. We ended up sitting in a table that was farther away from the party, drinking and talking. I don't remember exactly what I said to Annabeth to make her wanna go back to the party.

She looked at me with a quizzical expression (which was very un-Annabeth-like) as if it was taking her a while to process what I said. After a moment, she frowned, "Uh, Percy, wanna go back to the party and hang out with Piper and Jason?", she said carefully.

I shrugged, grabbed my glass and walked off without giving her a proper answer (which was the first un-Percy-like thing for me to do that night).

She walked after me. I remember sitting across from Piper and Jason, who looked almost ready to start making out, until Annabeth sat next to me. Piper started whispering stuff in Jason's ear and they started laughing.

I have no idea what was going through my mind as I said this, but I ended up blurting out "Why can't we be like that?", to Annabeth.

She frowned, "What?"

The music was too loud for Jason and Piper to hear what we were saying but I knew that Annabeth heard me.

"Why can't we be like Jason and Piper over there? Saying stuff and laughing at whatever comes out of each other's mouths like we don't have a care in the world."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying...Rachel and I could've been more like them."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my first epic mistake of that evening.

I don't remember why I thought that would be a safe thing to say, or why I even _said_ that.

But I did.

Annabeth's eyes got darker. She didn't respond which, normally, would be the first indicator that I had said something _very_ wrong.

But I didn't seem to notice, as my stupidity didn't end there.

"Heck, even _Calypso_ and I would've made a great couple."

"Percy Jackson", Annabeth said, locking her stormy gray eyes with mine, "is there something you're trying to tell me? Because if there is so help me-"

I don't remember exactly what I said that interrupted her but I must've said it pretty loud since Piper and Jason both turned their attention towards us as well as half of the other demigods at the party.

I remember she stood up abruptly, making her way past all of the dining pavilions, out of the party.

I grabbed her arm, a little harder than intended.

"Hey!" I shouted in her direction.

"What!?", Annabeth shouted back, with a furious expression.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to bed! Is that alright with you?"

I started getting mad for no reason, whatsoever, "Why? We were just talking and then you-"

"I didn't do anything you dolt! I'm going back to my cabin, now let me go!", she said yanking her arm free of my grasp. I stepped towards her and it almost looked like I was gonna throw my glass at her when I lowered it suddenly.

"You're jealous", I said with a lopsided grin, but it wasn't one of those mischievous grins that I always made, it was _wrong_.

She lowered her voice, but that didn't stop the entire party from staring at us, "I am _not_ jealous. You are the one who mentioned Rachel and Calypso. If you were so hung up on them, why didn't _you_ go with them? Where would that leave me, huh?", she said that last part so softly and, in a normal circumstance, I would've understood that she was hurt, comforted her and apologized for what I said.

Instead I probably did the stupidest thing I could've ever done (which is saying a lot).

"That would've left you with Luke. Maybe he wouldn't have died, if you agreed to go with him that night."

Oh gods.

 _W h y_ did I mention Luke?

Annabeth's expression was that of shock and hurt. Shocked because I had the nerve to mention Luke's name and hurt because, well, _I mentioned Luke's name._

She looked like she was trying really hard not to cry. Drunk Percy didn't seem to notice. He took another sip of his wine.

Annabeth stomped towards me, took a deep breath and promptly slapped me in the face.

 _Hard._

She turned on her heels and ran towards the Athena cabin.

The rest of the night was even more of a blur. I remember saying something to Jason and Piper (their expressions a mixture of plain shock and disgust). I walked towards the Poseidon cabin, stumbling over every little rock, and collapsing on my bed, my brain feeling like it might explode, my thoughts too scattered and random to even process what had happened.

Somehow I started snoring almost immediately.

* * *

I woke with a start at the Poseidon dining table. Will Solace was leaning over me. So was Jason. Will said something and ran off.

"Hey dude, glad you're awake", Jason said with an unreadable expression.

"How long was I out?", I asked him.

"About 20 minutes."

My head felt better from that morning, my thoughts were clearer.

"Sooo, you remember what happened last night?", he asked carefully, probably trying to avoid another un-Percy-like outburst.

"Yeah", I said my mouth as dry as when I woke up, "yeah, I remember.."

There was a moment of silence that let everything that I had done last night settle in my brain. My cheek hurt where Annabeth had slapped me, but I wasn't angry at her. I would've done the same thing if I was in her place. I had basically thrown out all of the names of people who Annabeth had, or used to have, complicated mixed-feelings about. Rachel, Calypso, and Luke. Sure Annabeth had made up with the girls and Annabeth had, for the most part, accepted what happened to Luke, but, nonetheless, names held a lot of power and she probably felt like I was bombarding her with things from the past.

Things she would rather forget.

 _Oh gods,_ I thought, _I have to apologize._

"Where's Annabeth?", I asked Jason urgently. He sat back in his chair as if he had predicted I would ask him that eventually.

"Percy...this morning the first thing Piper did was go to the Athena cabin to check on Annabeth, but she was gone. Malcom told her that Annabeth left for the city earlier this morning.", Jason said, his words weighing down on me as if I was holding up the sky (and I knew all-too-well what _that_ feels like).

I let that sink in. Annabeth left for the city without me. She must've been _really_ angry with me.

And, honestly, I couldn't blame her.

"I gotta go apologize", I said, stating the obvious. I got up from the dining table, abandoned my breakfast, and made my way to my cabin.

* * *

I hurriedly packed all of my clothing into my backpack, and didn't even wait to receive my score for cleaning my cabin, as I rushed to Half-Blood Hill to catch a ride from Argus.

There were other demigods making their way into the city, but I didn't pay attention to who was with me. I was furiously trying to come up with some way to apologize to Annabeth for everything.

I did notice, however, that everyone seemed to be taking turns glancing at me, like they were afraid I'd explode at any moment.

I couldn't blame them either.

The ride to the city passed in a blur and, as I made my way inside the apartment building that Annabeth and I lived in, I still hadn't gotten any closer to formulating some sort of way to say "I'm sorry" without sounding like a total moron.

I stopped at her door, frozen in fear.

 _What are you waiting for, idiot? Go in there and apologize!,_ my brain scolded.

 _Shut up! I'm working on it!_ , I told my brain.

I took 3 deep breaths and softly knocked on her door.

I heard the lock click and Annabeth stood in front of me with a somber expression. She wore jeans and a pink sweatshirt and I instantly knew something was wrong because she almost never wore the color pink.

"Hey um...can I come in?", I asked awkwardly.

She gestured for me to come in and turned to go inside without a word.

I walked inside and set my backpack next to the sofa. Her apartment was almost identical to mine: same sofa, same cabinets, same mini-kitchen set-up, same bedroom. Of course some of Annabeth's more personal touches made it stand out; her used-to-be-magical Yankees cap hanging on the front door, a lifetime supply of books about Ancient Greek architecture and history filling the cabinets, as well as a bunch of old _film noirs_ on Blu-Ray and DVD that were stacked next to her TV.

I looked up and saw that she was facing the closed door, staring at her Yankees cap, as if remembering our questing days.

"Annabeth, I-I'm sorry. About everything that happened last night. I don't know why I said those things or why I even-"

"It's okay", she said quietly.

I stared at her. She still didn't face me.

She took a deep breath, almost like a sigh, as if she knew I wouldn't understand what she meant until she elaborated.

As usual, she was right.

She turned to face me, "I forgive you", she said, a little louder. It was almost phrased like a question. Almost.

"Y-you do?", I asked incredulously.

"Yeah", she said. She walked towards me and wrapped her arms around my chest. But something wasn't right. Her shoulders were tense and she still wouldn't meet my eyes.

I tried to look at it from her perspective. I had nonchalantly thrown out all of the names of people that Annabeth felt ambivalently towards. Rachel and Calypso had both had crushes on me, though she had made up with them and they were now her friends.

 _Luke._

But Annabeth never got over what happened to Luke. She always felt guilty about his fate. She felt like if she had gone with him the night he had asked her to run away with him, he wouldn't have been possessed by Kronos and been forced to stab himself to end the Titan war. And, I think, mentioning his name so casually after so many years, had brought the past back to her, and made all of the guilt and grief hit her as if it was just yesterday when Luke had killed himself for the sake of the world.

"No, you don't", I told her. She opened her eyes and backed up, maybe surprised by the fact that I had figured it out, or surprised that I had the nerve to say it out loud. Or both.

"Percy...", she said, trying to phrase some sort of way to tell me why. But I knew why. I had messed with her emotions and I knew there wouldn't be an easy way for her to forgive me, no matter how drunk I was.

"Listen...", I said, "I know you'll never really forgive me for what I said last night."

She looked at her feet like she was afraid to meet my eyes and confirm my suspicions. But I didn't need confirmation.

"But", I continued, "I want you to know that you are the smartest, strongest, kindest, most honest, most beautiful girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and that I would never intentionally want to hurt you in any way, shape or form. Please remember that." I didn't know where all of this was coming from but it was all true.

After a moment of silence, Annabeth finally met my eyes, "Thanks Percy. I _do_ forgive you for saying that stuff last night. It's just...when you mentioned Luke I-", her voice cracked and she walked over and hugged me. A proper hug.

I led her to the couch and we sat there, taking in each others warmth.

"Gods, I'm sorry", she whispered, "I don't want to make you feel any worse than you do."

"Don't be sorry", I whispered back, "It's my fault, no matter how drunk I was."

She pulled back and met my eyes, her stormy gray irises calculating yet comforting.

"Percy, you do realize what made you say that stuff? It wasn't the wine _itself_."

The answer popped into my head a second before she said it.

"Dionysus."

I turned my head, trying to control the flame of anger that was suddenly ignited inside me. I hadn't really thought that something...unearthly...was at work to make me say that stuff and act that way. I had only blamed the wine and focused my attention on making amends.

But now all I could think about was that no-good Dionysus working his maddening magic on me to make me even more tipsy and out-of-it than I should've been.

"It was kinda my fault", Annabeth said, turning my head to face her, "I should've known that bad-mouthing the value of wine in public was unwise. Especially since Mr. D was right there inside the Big House."

"I guess...", I said, trying to keep my anger from being evident in my tone.

"I'm sorry about slapping you by the way", she said, probably trying to change the subject.

I touched my right cheek as she mentioned it "Don't be sorry. I would've done the same thing", I said with a smile.

"Did I hit you _that_ hard?", she said, noticing that I touched my cheek.

"No", I said jokingly ,"You slap like a girl."

She dramatically raised her eyebrows and I could tell she was trying not to laugh.

"I-I mean. Which is to say, _very_ hard", I said stupidly.

This time, she couldn't stop herself from chuckling. Soon, I started laughing and the air was officially cleared.

We touched foreheads, "I love you", I whispered, "Don't ever forget that"

"I won't. I love you too, Seaweed Brain", she said, and we embraced and kissed.

I was incredibly relieved that we were able to make up. But, I couldn't stop my mind from wandering, time and time again, to the fact that, if not for Dionysus, none of this would've happened.

I silently vowed that I would never pick up another glass of alcohol for as long as I lived.

 _Never again._


End file.
